Equipment for handling drill rods

ABSTRACT

Equipment for handling drill rods, comprising a slot-like storage space for storing drill rods side by side, a gripping jaw for gripping the drill rod, and a linearly movable displacing arm for displacing the drill rod from the outlet opening of the storage space by a linear movement to the drilling center of the drilling equipment and back. The equipment comprises a closing device positioned in the outlet opening of the storage space and movable in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of the displacing arm. The closing device has two inclined support surfaces facing away from the storage space, and the displacing arm similarly has an outwardly inclined guide surface at its end close to the storage space. On picking up a drill rod from the storage space, the gripping jaw presses the closing device at its support surface inwards so that the drill rod to be picked up is able to push the closing device inwards when the displacing arm is moved. Correspondingly, the guide surface of the displacing arm pushes the closing device inwards at its tip, so that the tip of the closing device bears against the surface of the displacing arm in such a way that they together close the outlet opening of the storage space during the displacing movement.

The invention relates to an equipment for handling drill rods,comprising a slot-like storage space intended for drill rods and havingan outlet opening; a closing device for closing the outlet opening ofthe storage space; a displacing arm for displacing the drill rodsbetween the outlet opening of the storage space and a drilling centre bya liner displacing movement; a power means for displacing the displacingarm; a gripping jaw connected to the displacing arm turnably about atransverse axis for gripping and holding the drill rod; and a powermeans for turning the gripping jaw to a gripping position and away fromit.

Long-hole drilling utilizes drill rods or steels stored in variousstorage means, such as rotating cartridges, from where the rods aredisplaced to a drilling centre by very complicated displacing means. Asused in this patent application and claims, drill rods refer to drillrods, drill steels, drill pipes, and other similar rod-like componentsused in long-hole drilling. Typically, a rod is displaced by a turningmovement, whereby arms turnable about an axis parallel with the drillingaxis displace the rod to the drilling centre or away from it. Verycomplicated functions and devices are required to carry out thisoperation. Such devices are difficult to use and expensive to produce,and their complexity causes a constant risk of disturbance. Suchdisturbances are typically caused by the rotatory movement of the rodcartridge, the clamping movement of the rod displacement arms forclamping the rods, and the turning movement of the arms from oneposition to another. Such solutions are disclosed e.g. in BritishPatents 1 196 159 and 1 290 297 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,420,319. Thefirst-mentioned patent specification discloses a solution where rods arepositioned in a curved cartridge, from which they are displaced to thedrilling centre by three separate curvilinear movements, which makes theequipment difficult to control.

British Patent 1 290 297 in turn discloses a solution where oil-drillingpipes are stored in a straight cartridge, and they are displaced to thedrilling centre by a separate, linearly movable displacing means. Thesolution requires a separate complicated mechanism for controllingstored pipes during the displacing movement, and it is difficult to use.The displacing means of the equipment disclosed in the above-mentionedpatent is described more fully in British Patent 1 301 430, from whichit appears that the solution comprises a plurality of different grippingmeans and closing arrangements, while the pipes, however, are able tomove longitudinally of the storage when the storage is not full.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,420,319 in turn discloses a solution where drill pipesare stored in a straight storage container, and they are displaced tothe drilling centre by displacing the drill pipe cartridge.

A further disadvantage of the prior art solutions is that to learn tocontrol several successive movements in normal drilling istime-consuming and causes risk situations at work. In the same way, alladditional movements increase the waste time in the handling of a drillrod, thus making the drilling process slower. Moreover, when turnablearms are used, they have to be interconnected mechanically by aconnection pipe or the like in order that they would turnsimultaneously. Correspondingly, the arms have to be mounted turnablywith respect to the frame, which makes the structure expensive andheavy.

An object of the present invention is to provide an equipment forhandling drill rods, which allows drill rods to be stored reliably andsafely and which allows the rods to be controlled all the time. Anotherobject of the invention is to provide an equipment which is simple andeasy to realize. The invention is characterized in that the closingdevice and the displacing arm are mounted transversely movably withrespect to each other so that when the displacing arm has been movedtowards the drilling centre or when the gripping jaw is open, theytogether close the outlet opening of the storage space; that thedisplacing arm has an inclined guide surface on the side of the closingdevice, the guide surface pushing the closing device at its end in adirection away from the displacing arm when the displacing arm is pushedtowards the drilling centre; that the closing device has a supportsurface inclined in a direction away from the end of the closing deviceon the side of the drilling centre, the drill rod to be inserted intothe storage space bearing against said support surface, thus pushing theclosing device in a direction away from the displacing arm; and that theclosing device has a second support surface at a distance from its endon the side of the drilling centre, the gripping Jaw bearing againstsaid second support surface in its turned position, thus pushing theclosing device in a direction away from the displacing arm.

An essential feature of the invention is that the rods are positionedside by side in a slot-like storage space which comprises a power means,such as a spring or a hydraulic cylinder, pushing the rods outwards, andfrom which the rods are picked up or into which they are inserted one byone. Another essential feature of the invention is that it comprises aclosing device which allows the rods to leave the storage space onlywhen the gripping jaw grips the rod and takes it out. Still anotheressential feature of the invention is that the displacement of the rodfrom the outlet opening of the storage space to the drilling centretakes place by a linear movement, whereby the displacing arm locks thedrill rod storage space and the rods placed in it in position during thedisplacing movement. A further essential feature of the invention isthat the closing device comprises two inclined support surfaces facingthe drilling centre and positioned at different points both in thedirection of movement of the closing device and in the longitudinaldirection of the drill rod. The drill rod or the gripping jaw pushes theclosing device aside at these surfaces so that the drill rod can bedisplaced out of the storage space and into the storage space,respectively. The displacing arm similarly comprises an inclined guidesurface which pushes the closing device inwards when the displacing armis moved towards the drilling centre, whereby the closing device isdisplaced so that it bears against a surface of the displacing arm onthe side of the drill rods in such a manner that the displacing arm andthe closing device form a closed storage space and close together theinlet opening of the space.

The equipment according to the invention allows the drill rod to bedisplaced to the drilling centre from the storage space andcorrespondingly back from the drilling centre into the storage space bytwo control movements which are easy to learn and which effect thedisplacing movement efficiently. Furthermore, in the storage space andduring the displacement, the rods are under constant control and securedso that no accidents and damages will take place.

The invention will be described more fully with reference to theattached drawings, in which

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an equipment according to theinvention for handling drill rods;

FIGS. 2a to 2e illustrate the operation of the equipment according tothe invention as seen in the direction of the axis of the drill rod; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a displacing arm,gripping jaw and closing device in an equipment according to theinvention.

FIG. 1 shows a feeding beam 1 for a drilling machine 2, along which beamthe drilling machine is movable. Further, an equipment for handlingdrill rods 3 is connected to the feeding beam 1. The equipment comprisestwo handling units 4, the structure and operation of which will bedescribed in greater detail with reference to the other figures. In thehandling units 4 the drill rods are stored in parallel with the feedingbeam 1 in such a way that they are at a distance from the drillingcentre of the drilling machine and transverse to a line drawn from thedrilling centre towards the storage space and positioned side by side sothat the outermost drill rod 3 is always in the same plane as thedrilling centre of the drilling machine in the direction of thedisplacing movement of the handling units 4 when the equipment is in adrilling position.

FIGS. 2a to 2e show the equipment according to the invention as seen inthe direction of the drill rods. The figures show a frame 5 of thehandling unit 4. The frame is attached to the feeding beam 1 by asupporter 6. It is provided with a slot-like storage space 7 for thedrill rods 3, and a spring 8 is provided at the bottom of the storagespace, which spring pushes the drill rods 3 outwards from the storagespace 7, thus keeping the rods pressed against each other. Beside thestorage space 7 there is provided a closing device 9 movable in its ownspace and pushed by a closing spring 10 in the same direction as thespring 8 of the storage space 7 pushes the drill rods. Furthermore, adisplacing arm 11 is connected to the frame 5 slideably in itslongitudinal direction and transversely to the storage space 7. Todisplace the displacing arm 11 a displacing cylinder 12 is connectedbetween it and the frame 5. The displacing arm 11 further has anassociated gripping jaw 13 which is connected turnably about an axis 14parallel with the drill rods 3 with respect to the displacing arm 11. Toturn the gripping jaw, a gripping cylinder 15 is arranged to act betweenthe displacing arm 11 and the gripping jaw 13.

FIGS. 2a to 2e show schematically how the closing device 9 is arrangedto operate under the influence of the displacing arm 11, the grippingjaw 13 and the drill rods 3, so that it does not need a separateoperating means. It appears from FIG. 2a how the closing device 9 is inits outermost position when the displacing arm 11 is in its mostretracted position, whereby the closing device 9 and the displacing arm11 prevent the drill rods 3 from falling out of the storage space 7. Theclosing device 9 comprises, on the side of the drilling centre, at leasttwo inclined support surfaces 9a and 9b spaced apart from each other inthe direction of movement of the closing device and positioned atdifferent points in the axial direction of the drill rods 3. This isillustrated more closely in FIG. 3. The end of the displacing arm 11close to the closing device 9 also has an inclined guide surface 11a.When the displacing arm moves upwards in a direction shown by the arrowin FIG. 2a, the guide surface 11a first pushes the topmost drill rod 3ainwards and then similarly pushes the closing device 9 inwards, as shownin FIG. 2b, thus forming a barrier in front of the storage space 7,which barrier prevents the drill rods 3 from falling out of the storagespace 7. When the displacing arm 11 is fully extended, the drill rod 3bpositioned at the drilling centre 12 can be gripped by turning thegripping jaw 13 in such a way that a rod slot 13a formed in it ispositioned around the drill rod 3b, squeezing it against the guidesurface 11a of the displacing arm 11. In this position the displacingarm 11 can be retracted, i.e. displaced downwards in the figure, so thatthe drill rod 3b will be displaced to the opening of the storage space7. When the drill rod 3b reaches the closing device 9, the closingdevice 9 may slide over a distance outwards along the guide surface 11a,when the displacing arm 11 is retracted. However, as shown in FIG. 2d,the drill rod 3b comes into contact with the outermost support surface9a of the closing device 9, thus again forcing the closing device asideso that the drill rod 3b is able to pass the closing device 9 and enterthe storage space 7. Thereafter, when the gripping jaw 13 is opened byshortening the length of the gripping cylinder 15, the closing device 9is able to move outwards, thus locking the drill rod 3b in the storagespace 7. FIG. 2e shows how the drill rod to be displaced has reached thestorage space, and the gripping jaw 13 presses the closing device at itsother support surface 9b inwards while the tip of the closing device 9is in a position displaced from the central line of the drill rod 3towards the storage space. When the gripping jaw 13 is turned open byshortening the gripping cylinder 15, as shown in the figure, the closingdevice 9 is able to move to the right in the figure, thus locking thedrill rod 3b reliably in place.

On removing the drill rods 3, 3a, 3b from the storage space 7, theoperation is reversed except that when the gripping jaw 13 is firstturned to grip the first drill rod 3b in the storage space 7, it pressesthe support surface 9b of the closing device 9, thus forcing the closingdevice 9 inwards. It thereby locks the drill rod 3b against the guidesurface 11a of the displacing arm 11, and the tip of the closing device9 will be positioned at the drill rod 3, i.e. between its central axisand its edge facing the storage space 7, in a position such that whenthe displacing arm 11 is pushed onwards, the tip of the closing device 9hits the inclined surface portion of the drill rod 3b, and is displaceddownwards under the influence of the drill rod 3b until it is able toreturn to a position against the guide surface 11a of the displacing arm11 and is again displaced aside to make room for the displacing arm 11under the guidance of the guide surface. The drill rod 3b can thereafterbe displaced to the drilling centre 12, the gripping jaw 13 can beopened, and the displacing arm 11 can be retracted. Accordingly, thedrill rod 3, 3a, 3b is supported by the closing device 9, the displacingarm 11 and the gripping jaw 13 in all situations so that it will notfall by accident from the storage space or escape from the handlingunit.

FIG. 3 is a perspective schematic view of one embodiment of theequipment according to the invention, comprising the closing device 9,the displacing arm 11, and the gripping jaw 13 with the power means 15.As appears from the figure, the closing device 9 has at its edges thesupport surfaces 9a and 9b, which are positioned at different depths inthe direction of the closing device. In practice, there are twosymmetrically positioned support surfaces 9a, one in each projection 9cat the outer edges of the closing device 9 in such a way that thegripping jaw 13 can pass between the surfaces. It further appears fromthe figure how the gripping jaw 13 is positioned with respect to theclosing device 9 when it has been turned from its most open positiontowards the gripping position. The figure also shows how the guidesurface 11a of the displacing arm 11 makes contact with the upper end ofthe projection 9c of the closing device 9, whereby it has a similarcontact with the ends of the projections 9c at both edges. For practicalreasons, the upper corner of the closing device 9 is rounded in orderthat the movement and mutual sliding of the surfaces would take place assmoothly as possible. The figure does not show the frame structures andother components less important for the understanding of therelationship between the above-mentioned three components, as they areshown in the other figures. When the equipment according to theinvention is realized as shown in the figures, it can be operated insuch a way that the closing device 9 and the operating means 8 forcingthe rods outwards do not need a separately controllable operating meansbut it is able to operate reliably and safely under the guidance of thedisplacing arm and the gripping jaw.

The invention has been described above and shown in the drawings only byway of example, and it is not in any way restricted to the example.There may be one or more handling units provided in a single equipment,whereby the most suitable and advantageous solution is to use twohandling units. The storage space may be linear or curved, depending onthe application, provided that the drill rods are arranged such that onerod at a time is able to enter the outlet opening of the storage spacebeside the closing device and the displacing arm. The closing device 9may be realized either by using merely the two support surfaces 9a and9b or, as shown in FIG. 3, by using a symmetrical closing structurehaving support surfaces in the middle or at both edges such that a forceis exerted on the closing device 9 substantially symmetrically withrespect to its centre in the longitudinal direction. In this way, theextra wear usually caused by asymmetrical loading is avoided, eventhough the use of the structure is not absolutely necessary.

We claim:
 1. Equipment for handling drill rods including a slot-likestorage space intended for drill rods and having an outlet opening; aclosing device for closing the outlet opening of the storage space; adisplacing arm for displacing the drill rods between the outlet openingof the storage space and a drilling centre of a drilling machine by alinear displacing movement; a power means for displacing the displacingarm; a gripping jaw connected to the displacing arm turnably about atransverse axis for gripping and holding the drill rods; and a powermeans for turning the gripping jaw between an open position and agripping position; wherein the closing device and the displacing arm aremounted transversely movably with respect to each other so that when thedisplacing arm has been moved towards the drilling centre or when thegripping jaw is in the open position, the closing device and thedisplacing arm together close the outlet opening of the storage space;and wherein the displacing arm has an inclined guide surface on one sideof the closing device, the guide surface pushing the closing device atan end thereof in a direction away from the displacing arm when thedisplacing arm is pushed towards the drilling centre; and wherein theclosing device has a first support surface inclined in a direction awayfrom said end of the closing device on the side of the drilling centre,the drill rod to be inserted into the storage space bearing against saidsupport surface, thus pushing the closing device in a direction awayfrom the displacing arm; and further wherein the closing device has asecond support surface at a distance from said end on the side of thedrilling centre, the gripping jaw when in the gripping position bearingagainst said second support surface, thus pushing the closing device ina direction away from the displacing arm.
 2. Equipment according toclaim 1, including a closing spring pushing the closing device towardsthe displacing arm; and a spring pushing the drill rods towards theoutlet opening of the storage space.
 3. Equipment according to claim 1,wherein the second support surface of the closing device has suchdimensions with respect to the gripping jaw that the end of the closingdevice on the side of the displacing arm extends between the centralaxis of the drill rod at the outlet opening of the storage space and anedge of the drill rod on the side of the storage space in such a waythat when the drill rod is displaced towards the drilling centre, thesurface of the drill rod is able to push the closing device in adirection away from the displacing arm so that the drill rod can bemoved from the storage space, and correspondingly when the drill rod isinserted into the storage space, the closing device keeps the drill rodin the storage space when the gripping jaw is opened.
 4. Equipmentaccording to claim 1, wherein the closing device is substantiallysymmetrical so that edges of said closing device comprise a pair ofprojections, both of which extend up to the displacing arm and form saidfirst inclined support surface against which the drill rod is arrangedto bear; and wherein the closing device has a central recess where saidsecond support surface for the gripping jaw is formed; and furtherwherein the gripping jaw has such dimensions in the transverse directionof the closing device that the gripping jaw is able to pass between theprojections of the edges of the closing device through the recess of theclosing device.
 5. Equipment according to claim 1, wherein the storagespace, the closing device, the displacing arm, the power means for thedisplacing arm, the gripping jaw and the power means belong comprise aseparate handling unit; and wherein the equipment comprises two suchhandling units spaced apart from each other along a feeding beamextending in the longitudinal direction of the drilling machine.